let's keep in touch

If you’re a book-lover, chances are good that books tend to pile up in your home until your bookcases are bulging. Books can accumulate even faster when you have children at home. As their reading levels and interests change, so do the books they want to read. Yet, sometimes it can be hard to part with our favorite books, even if we’ve already read the books, or in the case of kids, the books are well beyond your child’s current reading level. But Books-A-Million in Edwardsville, Illinois has a program that will give you even more incentive to declutter your bookshelves.

My coworker, Jennifer, recently found out about a used book buyback program at the Books-A-Million store here in Edwardsville. Her children were motivated by the opportunity to make some easy money, so they happily packed up over 100 used books and DVDs and were elated with the cash they made. (It seems that Books-A-Million pays pretty well for used children’s books and movies!)

Unfortunately, the Books-A-Million in Hazelwood, MO is not participating, but the Edwardsville, IL store is, along with a few other select stores around the country. They will be holding the buyback until at least October 2013. Here are a few more details:

What are the hours for the buyback program? Wednesdays through Sundays, 12 – 6 p.m.

What will they accept? books, CDs, DVDs, ipods, ipads and some e-readers

What’s the limit? Three totes per day (The totes are roughly the size of a box of office paper.)

Where do the books go? They become inventory for a used book chain called 2nd & Charles, which is owned by the same parent company as Books-A-Million.

If Edwardsville isn’t a convenient location for you to unload some books, search your area for a used bookstore. Edwardsville has a locally-owned new and used bookstore here called Afterwords, and they provide a terrific store credit for used books. Another option is selling books outright, in which case Craigslist and Amazon are great avenues. There are, of course, plenty of worthy organizations that will accept used book donations, including libraries, schools and thrift shops. Donating books is easy, gives you a tax write-off, and helps others at the same time.

Do you have other suggestions for decluttering the bookshelves? I’d love to hear about other used bookstores or buyback opportunities in the comments below!